The Hindu Business Line : Indo-US agriculture research board formed

THE Ministry of Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will form a Knowledge Initiative Board to encourage joint research in agriculture.

The first board meeting to will be held in the US next month. The members will be from the Government, academia and private sector for specific projects and funding sources. The board will develop its findings in a report that will be delivered to both the Agriculture Ministry and USDA in 2006, after meeting first in the US and later in India, said an official statement.

It will also initiate a public-private partnership where the private sector can help identify research areas that have the potential for rapid commercialisation. The initiative may consider areas for joint research by using biotechnology for harnessing the genetic potential of plant and animal species.

"The board will have its first meeting in US in December, followed by a meeting early next year in India in advance of President Bush's expected visit to India in February," the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, USDA, Mr J. B. Penn, said.

The agreement was signed by the ICAR Director General, Mr Mangala Rai, and Mr Penn in the presence of the Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, and the US Trade Representative, Mr Robert Portman.

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